The Jura Collection

In 1938, the Munich crisis prompted the first full-scale moves toward mobilisation in France. Government printing presses went into overdrive producing all the paperwork required. Most of the format for the posters went back as far as the beginning of the century and every Mairie (Town Hall) in France displayed them. The French military was manned by conscription; when the males reached the age of 20, it was the responsibility of the local mayor to assess their mental and physical suitability and those selected went into the services for two years.

Once the initial term was completed, the now citizen-soldiers returned to civilian life and apart from annual refresher courses, unless war broke out, this was as much as the state required from the former conscripts. Naturally, as time elapsed, the speed at which the state would call upon their services would diminish accordingly.

Fallerans, a small town in the Franche-Comté, was no exception to this parade of posters in September 1939. The possible exception was that the town clerk fully grasped the enormity of the historic events unfolding around him. Thus, as each poster was removed from public display, they were carefully folded and placed safely into a drawer at home. Because of this, we were able to acquire an almost complete set of the various posters in near-mint condition. The collection covers many aspects including such subjects as the suspension of rail travel for the public and official price-fixing, along with a number of requisition notices.